Terms & conditiOns

This document (together with any documents referred to in it) sets out the terms and conditions ('Conditions') under which Cat In A Flat Limited ('CatInAFlat', 'Company', 'We'), provide an online platform at www.catinaflat.com (and related mobile applications) (together, the 'Website') for cat owners and cat sitters to enable them to make contact and conduct business ('Services'). By applying to participate in the Services you confirm that you accept these Conditions and you agree to be bound by them and you warrant and represent that you are legally entitled to do so and are abiding by all applicable laws and regulations in the jurisdiction in which you reside.

If you refuse to accept these Conditions, you will not be able participate in the Services via the Website.

About Cat In A Flat

Cat In A Flat Ltd is registered in England & Wales with company number 09002109 and registered office at 86 Ability Plaza, Arbutus Street, London, E8 4DT.

Becoming a Member

You need to register with us as a member ('Member') in order to use the Services. A Member can be a cat owner ('Cat Owner') or a cat sitter ('Cat Sitter'). Cat Sitters can share their services on our site and Cat Owners can use the directory search, postcode search and other tools on the Website to find a local Cat Sitter.

The Website and Services are intended solely for persons who are 18 or older. Any access to or use of the Website or Services by anyone under 18 is expressly prohibited. By accessing or using the Website you represent and warrant that you are 18 or older.

If you register as a Cat Sitter you agreed to abide by our Code of Conduct.

Cat Owners acknowledge and agree that, if their cat introduces fleas to the cat sitters person which are then transferred to the cat sitter’s home, the owner may be billed for any amount to reimburse costs incurred. The costs may include, but are not limited to, costs associated with treating cat sitters resident animals and/or home for fleas or flea prevention. It is the responsibility of Cat Owners to disclose any knowledge of flea issues associated with their pets to all cat sitters before any service is rendered.

Status of CatInAFlat

CatInAFlat acts as an online portal to enable Cat Owners and Cat Sitters to make contact with each other with a view to engaging in the supply of cat sitting services. When a Cat Owner and a Cat Sitter enter into a contract with each other for the supply of cat sitting services via the Website each shall pay a fee to CatInAFlat as detailed in clause 6 of these Conditions. However, the contract for the supply of cat sitting services will be between the Cat Owner and a Cat Sitter only and CatInAFlat is not a party to any such contract.

CatInAFlat has no control over the conduct of Cat Owners, Cat Sitters, cats, or any other users of the Website and Services, and disclaims all liability in this regard so far as legally permissible.

Although Members register with CatInAFlat to use the Services, CatInAFlat does not vet Cat Owners or Cat Sitters and provides no warranty for the accuracy or information uploaded by Members to the Website. Classified entries by Cat Sitters do not imply any form of recognition, recommendation or guarantee of the Cat Sitter or the products and services provided by them. Accordingly, it is up to Cat Owners and Cat Sitters to ensure that they are satisfied with the suitability of any engagement, to confirm the identity and the status of those involved and to check any credentials and we shall have no input or liability in that respect.

CatInAFlat has no liability and will not enter into any negotiation or disputes between either party. CatInAFlat does not offer a mediation service on issues concerned with bookings, charging disputes, financial matters, etc and therefore Members should seek their own legal advice in the event of a grievance with any other Member.

In the event of a complaint submitted in writing by a Member to claims@catinaflat.com, CatInAFlat will look into the complaint within 48 hours to decide whether or not to pursue further actions. CatInAFlat may in its discretion take such action, including terminating membership or removing a Cat Sitter's profile page or a Cat Owner's cat sitting request message from public view immediately, as it deems appropriate without notification or liability, following a complaint or a breach of the 'Code of Conduct' or for any other reason.

A Member can request to have their Cat Sitter's profile page or a Cat Owner's cat sitting request message (as appropriate) removed from public view any time by sending an email to support@catinaflat.com. CatInAFlat will remove the profile page or owner request from public view within 48 hours. A Cat Sitter that requested a temporary removal of their profile from public view can request a reactivation by sending an email to support@catinaflat.com. CatInAFlat will re-activate the profile page within 48 hours.

Nothing in these Conditions shall create or be deemed to create an independent contractor, agency, partnership, joint venture, employer-employee or franchiser-franchisee relationship between CatInAFlat and any Member. Without limiting the foregoing, CatInAFlat is not acting as an agent for any Member or any other user or visitor of the Services or the Website nor does CatInAFlat provide any guarantee or representation of any minimum level of engagement for any Cat Sitter by Cat Owners.

Insurance

CatInAFlat has secured the provision of an insurance policy which Cat Sitters may benefit from, provided that they satisfy certain conditions. Each Cat Sitter must confirm that they comply with these conditions upon registration with CatInAFlat and upon each occasion that they accept a booking from a Cat Owner through the Website. Cat in a Flat does NOT offer cat boarding nor does it insure Cat Sitters, cats or owners that enter such arrangements. For more information go here

Emergency Treatment

In the unlikely event that the cat is injured or falls ill during the cat sitting period, the Cat Sitter should always try to contact the Cat Owner, or their emergency contact, before any treatment is sourced.

If the cat in care has no insurance and should require an emergency vet treatment for sickness during the booked and paid cat sitting period, the Cat Owner agrees to pay all vet and linked transportation charges upon their return until liability for the expense has been identified by our cat sitting insurance. Cat Owners can then make a claim and a refund will be made if applicable.

In the event of the Cat Sitter or CatInAFlat being unable to contact the Cat Owner (for example because they are traveling overseas), the Cat Owner will refund the funds to the Cat Sitter or CatInAFlat for any necessary treatment. The Cat Owner automatically agrees to pay the vet bill if

Cat Sitter and CatInAFlat cannot get hold of the Cat Owner or emergency contact by email or phone within one hour of diagnosis

The injury or illness is not caused by negligence of the Cat Sitter

It's an existing illness

Information on the Website

Although CatInAFlat attempts to maintain the integrity and accuracy of the information on the Website, we make no guarantees as to its correctness, completeness, or accuracy. The Website may contain typographical errors, inaccuracies, or other errors or omissions. Also, unauthorized additions, deletions, or alterations could be made to the Website by third parties without our knowledge or consent. If you believe that information found on the Website is inaccurate or unauthorized, please inform us by contacting us via support@catinaflat.com

Your Information and Photos

"Your Information" is defined as any information and materials, including without limitation photographs, you provide to CatInAFlat or other users in connection with your registration for and use of the Services. You are solely responsible for Your Information, and we act merely as a passive conduit for your online distribution and publication of Your Information. Solely to enable CatInAFlat to use Your Information, so we are not violating any rights you might have in that information, you hereby grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, sublicensable (through multiple tiers) right to exercise all copyright, publicity rights, and any other rights you have in Your Information, in any media now known or not currently known. CatInAFlat shall have complete discretion in how it chooses to display or use Your Information in connection with the Website and Services, subject to restrictions set forth in our Privacy Policy.

As part of the Services CatInAFlat occasionally shares photo updates of sitted cats with Website users and the public. You agree that CatInAFlat may, at its sole discretion, publish these photos on the Website and across social media including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and similar sites.

You hereby represent and warrant to CatInAFlat that Your Information (a) will not be false, inaccurate, incomplete or misleading; (b) will not be fraudulent or involve the sale of counterfeit or stolen items; (c) will not infringe any third party's copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary right or rights of publicity or privacy; (d) will not violate any law, statute, ordinance, or regulation (including without limitation those governing export control, consumer protection, unfair competition, anti-discrimination or false advertising); (e) will not be defamatory, libelous, unlawfully threatening, or unlawfully harassing; (f) will not be obscene or contain child pornography or be harmful to minors; (g) will not contain any viruses, Trojan Horses, worms, time bombs, cancelbots or other computer programming routines that are intended to damage, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate any system, data or personal information; and (h) will not create liability for CatInAFlat or cause CatInAFlat to lose (in whole or in part) the services of its ISPs or other partners or suppliers.

We use a technology called "cookies". A cookie is an element of data that the Website sends to your browser that is then stored on your system. We use cookies for the following purposes: To identify what site referred the visitor to the Website, To record analytics data and To allow visitors access to certain features of the Website. Further details of cookies are included in our Privacy Policy.

Payment

Registration as a Member is free. However, for each cat sitting arranged through our Website, fees are payable to CatInAFlat by both Cat Owners and Cat Sitters as set out in this paragraph 6.

CatInAFlat provides access via the Website to a secure third party online payment service, calledStripe, which offers payment via all major credit and debit cards including Visa, American Express and Master Cards.

In order to arrange a cat sitting booking through the Website, Cat Owners and Cat Sitters must register with Stripe and, by doing so, agree to Stripe's terms of service and privacy policy. All payments made are governed solely by Stripe's terms of service and privacy policy.

CatInAFlat will not have access to, nor can it obtain any information of the Stripe service and is not responsible for its actions. A Member who wishes to change their bank details will need to log into the Stripe service directly. CatInAFlat accepts no liability for any failure in the Stripe service.

CatInAFlat only has access to payment transfers between Cat Sitters and Cat Owners in order to be able to refund or allow payment corrections. CatInAFlat has no transparency or access to any other payments of the Cat owners and Cat Sitters accounts.

Cat Owners pay Cat Sitters via the Stripe payment system. A service fee of £1.50 will be payable to CatInAFlat by Cat Owners for each cat sitting booking made via the Website, this fee will be managed by Stripe and transferred automatically to CatInAFlat.

For each completed cat sitting booking, Cat Sitters will pay CatInAFlat a fee equal to 19% of the fee agreed between the Cat Owner and the Cat Sitter. This fee will be managed and automatically transferred to Cat in a Flat by Stripe once their transfer fees have been deducted.

Payment details will be taken from Cat Owners when they Book or Pre-Book a Cat Sitter, this is part of the booking confirmation. Money will leave the Cat Owner’s account the day before the booking starts. Money can take up to 7 days to transfer to the Cat Sitters account.

The Cat Owner contractually agrees that the first and all future bookings with a registered Cat Sitter from CatInAFlat will be booked and paid via the Website.

Cat Sitters are solely responsible for any taxes on amounts they may pay or obtain through CatInAFlat.

CatInAFlat may revise fee and payment terms at any time prior notice. Cat Owners and Cat Sitters must accept the terms and conditions from Stripe.

Cat sitters can optionally offer a 10% discount for their first completed booking. A discount can only be applied once. It is valid, till the first booking has been completed or the sitter switches it off in their profile. It cannot be reactivated after a first completed booking.

Cancellations and Refunds

Cat Owners and Cat Sitters can cancel a Pre-Booking at any time with no cancellation charges.

Cat Owners can cancel a confirmed booking at any time. The cancellation fee will depend on the time of notice given by the Cat Owner. a) There is no charge for a cancellation with more than 14 days notice. b) If a Cat Owner cancels 14 to 5 days before the booking starts they will be charged the CatInAFlat fixed booking fee of £1.50. c) If a Cat Owner cancels within 5 days or less of the booking starting, the Cat Owner will be charged 30% of their booking cost, with a minimum charge of £9.50, or a maximum of £30. This cancellation fee will be paid to the Cat Sitter excluding CatInAFlat fees and the CatInAFlat fixed booking fee of £1.50. d) If a Cat Owner has to cancel the day before the booking starts they must contact CatInAFlat at support@catinaflat.com directly.

Cat Sitters can cancel bookings at any stage with reasonable notice. If a Cat Sitter needs to cancel within 5 days or less of the booking starting, the Cat Sitter must contact CatInAFlat at support@catinaflat.com for further help.

Use of the Website

Any personal information you submit to the Website is governed by the Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy encompasses any and all information you may provide to the Website either for purposes of registering with the Website as a Sitter or Owner or to receive further information, updates and promotions about or related to the Website. In consideration of being allowed to use the Website, you agree that the following actions shall constitute a material breach of these Conditions:

Collecting information about the Website or users of the Website without CatInAFlat 's written consent;

Modifying, framing, rendering (or re-rendering), mirroring, truncating, injecting, filtering or changing any Content of or information contained on the Website, without CatInAFlat 's written consent;

Disguising the origin of information transmitted to, from, or through the Website;

Distributing viruses or other harmful computer code;

Allowing any other person or entity to impersonate you to access, use or register with the Website;

Using the Website in a way that is intended to harm, or a reasonable person would understand would likely result in harm, to the user or others;

Using the Website for any purpose in violation of local, state, national, international laws, including but not limited to any unauthorized use of any Content or information contained on the Website may violate copyright laws, trademark laws, the laws of privacy and publicity, and/or communications regulations and statutes;

Receiving one or more negative reviews provided to CatInAFlat by Owners or non-Owners;

Updating a public profile with erroneous contact information or removing contact information;

Failing to respond to messages/inquiries from other CatInAFlat Owners or failing to respond to messages/inquiries from other CatInAFlat Owners within a timely manner, to be determined at the sole discretion of CatInAFlat;

Behaving or acting in any way that creates a negative experience for a CatInAFlat Owner, to be determined at the sole discretion of CatInAFlat;

Behaving or acting in any way that demonstrates a lack of courtesy or professionalism with any CatInAFlat Staff Owner that may cause any difficulty providing the best customer service possible for a CatInAFlat Owner, to be determined at the sole discretion of CatInAFlat;

Receiving multiple General Inquiries and/or Meet-n-Greets without any (or a abnormally low ratio of) confirmed Reservations, to be determined at the sole discretion of CatInAFlat;

Sitters are required to provide periodic photo updates to the owner of their cat via text message or email;

Circumventing any measures implemented by us aimed at preventing violations of the Conditions;

CatInAFlat expressly reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate a user's access to any interactive services and/or to any or all other areas of the Website due to any act that would constitute a violation of the Conditions. In addition to violating the Conditions, any of the foregoing actions on your part or on behalf of any entity you are employed or otherwise acting as an agent for constitutes intentional, unauthorized access of a protected computer, may constitute a violation of English law, and may potentially subject you and any affiliated parties to civil liability and criminal prosecution.

CatInAFlat also expressly reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate a user's access to any interactive services and/or to any or all other areas of the Website due to one or more negative reviews provided to CatInAFlat by Owners or non-Owners. Access will also be blocked and/or submission removed in the event of obscene or inappropriate use of the sitter request ticker. These reviews are typically, but are not required to be, associated with a service provided by a Cat Sitter through CatInAFlat.

It is your obligation to comply with all applicable state, federal and international laws. It is also your obligation to comply with all applicable tax laws and regulations that apply to your activity on the Website. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account information and password and for restricting access to such information and to your computer. You agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account or password.

Links to Third Party Websites

The Website may contain links or have references to websites controlled by parties other than CatInAFlat. CatInAFlat is not responsible for and does not endorse or accept any responsibility for the contents or use of these third party websites. CatInAFlat is providing these links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply or otherwise constitute endorsement by CatInAFlat of the linked website and/or the content and materials found at the linked website, except as specifically stated otherwise by CatInAFlat. It is your responsibility to take precautions to ensure that whatever you select for your use is free of viruses or other items of an intrusive nature.

Disclaimer of Warranties

Except where expressly provided otherwise by CatInAFlat, the content and services offered on the site are provided "as is," and are for use as contracted herein. Except for the express warranties set forth herein, CatInAFlat and its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents, as well as its third party providers, hereby disclaim all express or implied representations, warranties, guaranties, and conditions with regard to the site, the sitters, the content, and the goods and services associated therewith including but not limited to any implied representations, warranties, guaranties, and conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and non-infringement, and quality of goods and services except to the extent that such disclaimers are held to be legally invalid. CatInAFlat and its third party providers make no representations, guaranties or warranties regarding the reliability, availability, timeliness, quality, suitability, truth, accuracy or completeness of the Website and the goods, Services and/or materials associated with the Website, or the results you may obtain by accessing or using the Website and/or the goods, services and/or materials associated therewith. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, CatInAFlat and its third party providers do not represent or warrant that (a) the operation or use of the site or services will be timely, secure, uninterrupted or error-free; (b) the quality of any products, services, information, or other material you purchase, secure or otherwise obtain through the site will meet your requirements; or (c) the services offered via the site available are free of viruses or other harmful components. You acknowledge that neither CatInAFlat nor its third party providers control the transfer of data over communications facilities, including the internet, and that the site and services and/or materials associated therewith may be subject to limitations, delays, and other problems inherent in the use of such communications facilities. CatInAFlat is not responsible for any delays, delivery failures, or other damage resulting from such problems, except where expressly provided otherwise by CatInAFlat. CatInAFlat expressly disclaims any warranty related to the quality of goods and/or services and the persons or businesses referenced on the Website. You use third party providers and affiliated services at your peril and assume all risks related to use of said third party providers and services. Licensing and certification requirements (or the absence thereof) for some or all of the services offered by Cat Sitters widely vary by state, county, city, municipality or township. CatInAFlat makes no representations or warranties that any of the Cat Sitters or Members offering services through the Website have complied with any applicable state, county or municipal law, statute, ordinance or regulations.

Termination and Account Cancellation

CatInAFlat may, in its sole discretion and without liability to you, with or without cause, with or without prior notice and at any time: (a) terminate these Conditions or your access to our Website, and (b) deactivate or cancel your CatInAFlat Account or registration or similar uses of the Website. CatInAFlat's proprietary rights, disclaimer of warranties, indemnities, limitations of liability and miscellaneous provisions shall survive any such termination. CatInAFlat may provide notice of termination by regular mail or email. You may cancel your CatInAFlat Account at any time by sending an email to support@catinaflat.com. However, you are personally liable for any orders, listings or commitments to an owner or charges that you incur prior to your termination/cancellation. Please note that if your CatInAFlat Account is cancelled, we do not have an obligation to delete or return to you any Content you have posted to the Website.

Intellectual Property Rights

All materials provided on the Website, including but not limited to Content, information, documents, products, logos, graphics, sounds, images, compilations, and services are protected by international copyright and trademark laws. The owner of the copyrights and trademarks, names, logos and service marks are CatInAFlat, its affiliates or respective third party authors, developers or vendors ("Third Party Providers"). Except as stated herein, none of the materials may be modified, copied, printed, reproduced, distributed, republished, performed, downloaded, displayed, posted, transmitted and/or otherwise used in any form or by any means, including but not limited to electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other means, without the prior express written permission of CatInAFlat and/or a Third Party Provider. Also, you may not "mirror" or "archive" any Content displayed on or otherwise accessible from the Website on any other server without the prior express written permission of CatInAFlat.

Governing Law

These Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and you hereby submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

You can also, if necessary, present your complaints relative to our Platform or our Services on the dispute resolution platform placed online by the European Commission, accessible here. The European Commission will send your complaint to the competent national ombudsman. In compliance with the rules applicable to mediation, you are bound, before any request for mediation, to have notified CatinaFlat in writing of any dispute in order to obtain an amicable solution.

Severability

If any provision of these Conditions is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable, then such provision(s) shall be construed to reflect the intentions of the invalid or unenforceable provision(s), with all other provisions remaining in full force and effect.

Miscellaneous

The Conditions (together with the Privacy Policy) represent the parties' entire understanding relating to the use of the Website and any Services provided related thereto and supersedes any prior or contemporaneous, conflicting or additional, communications. CatInAFlat reserves the right to change these Conditions or policies relating to the Website at any time and from time to time, and such changes will be effective upon being posted herein. You should visit this page from time to time to review the then current Conditions because they are binding on you. Certain provisions of these Conditions may be superseded by expressly designated legal notices or terms located on particular pages of the Website, which may be posted from time to time. Your continued use of the Website after any such changes and/or postings shall constitute your consent to such changes.

You may not assign these Conditions without the prior written approval of CatInAFlat. Any purported assignment in violation of this section shall be void. CatInAFlat reserves the right to use Third Party Providers in the provision of the Website and/or the goods, service and/or Materials associated therewith. In the event of any litigation of any controversy or dispute arising out of or in connection with these Conditions, its interpretation, its performance, or the like, the prevailing party shall be awarded reasonable attorneys' fees and expenses, court or arbitral forum costs, and reasonable costs for expert and other witnesses attributable to the prosecution or defense of that controversy or dispute. Any and all rights not expressly granted herein are reserved by CatInAFlat.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

This paragraph sets out the entire liability of CatInAFlat whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise.

Nothing in these Conditions excludes or limits CatInAFlat's liability for: (a) death or personal injury caused by the negligence of CatInAFlat or the negligence of any of its employees, agents or subcontractors; (b) fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or (c) any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited by operation of law.

Subject to paragraph 16.2: (a) CatInAFlat shall under no circumstances whatever be liable, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, for any loss of profit, or any indirect or consequential loss arising under or in connection with the Services, these Conditions or otherwise; and (b) CatInAFlat's total liability in respect of all other losses arising under or in connection with the Services, these Conditions or otherwise, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, shall in no circumstances exceed £[2,000] or, if greater, the total fees paid to CatInAFlat in the calendar year in which the claim arises.]